"Facing pressure from tenant advocates, landlords and frustrated residents, the Concord City Council in March approved amendments to a hotly debated rent control ordinance that increased the annual cap on rent increases to 5%  — one of the most restrictive in the Bay Area.

"SACRAMENTO, CA – In what sponsors are calling “sweeping legislation to combat California’s spiraling housing emergency,” legislation was introduced here Wednesday to “provide immediate relief to millions of renters, protecting many from displacement, preventing worsening homelessness,” according to a coalition of lawmakers, labor labors, tenant, youth activists and the unhoused.

The so-called “Affordable Rent Act,” introduced as AB 1157 by Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose), will, said the author and the coalition behind it, “permanently strengthen tenant protections statewide by updating the Tenant Protection Act of 2019.”

The bill would limit annual rent increases to the Consumer Price Index plus two percent or five percent, whichever is lower; includes single-family home renter and makes TPA permanent by removing a 2030 sunset.

Sponsors maintained in a statement that “California’s 17 million renters face aggressive rent increases that outpace wages; this bill would provide immediate relief from a system where current law allows landlords to nearly double rents over a decade even as wages don’t keep up.”

Noting that median rent in California has ballooned about 37 percent since 2000, when the TPA went into effect, “median renter household income has only increased seven percent,” adjusted for inflation, the coalition said.

The coalition added, “Under current law, renters could see their rent nearly double over 10 years. With half of California renters already spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing, excessive increases are driving the homelessness crisis."

"In 2021, Chula Vista laid out a series of new housing goals. The city hoped to add thousands of new homes for lower and middle-income people by the end of the decade.

But three years later, the vast majority of new homes in the city are only affordable for wealthier residents, according to a new city report.

Just last year, the county’s second-largest city approved 1,500 building permits for homes aimed at households with an annual income of more than $143,000. It signed off on only 62 permits for homes aimed at all other income categories — including homes for low income and very low income residents.

In 2021, Chula Vista laid out a series of new housing goals. The city hoped to add thousands of new homes for lower and middle-income people by the end of the decade.

But three years later, the vast majority of new homes in the city are only affordable for wealthier residents, according to a new city report.

Just last year, the county’s second-largest city approved 1,500 building permits for homes aimed at households with an annual income of more than $143,000. It signed off on only 62 permits for homes aimed at all other income categories — including homes for low income and very low income residents."

"Alfombras ennegrecidas de mugre, goteras en los techos, pasillos oscuros y lúgubres, con escasa visibilidad de día y de noche, agua estancada en áreas comunes y basura por doquier son apenas unas de las muchas condiciones visibles de cómo han vivido por años los inquilinos de los complejos de departamentos Tesoro Del Valle, Flores del Valle y Camino al Oro en el área de Cypress Park/Lincoln Heights.

Cansados de ser ignorados y multados por los administradores y propietarios de los tres edificios ubicados entre la Avenida 25 y la calle Humboldt, se unieron para demandar respuestas y arreglos por parte de los propietarios. 

Los edificios son propiedad de la empresa arrendadora AMCAL de Agoura Hills. Están subsidiados a través del programa federal de Crédito Fiscal para Viviendas de Bajos Ingresos (LIHTC). 

El subsidio de LIHTC es administrado por el estado de California, y tiene como objetivo incentivar a los promotores privados a construir viviendas de alquiler asequibles."

"No matter how many times she scrubs and paints, the black mold on Zenaida Gomez’s apartment walls always comes back.

Equally as stubborn, however, is the Richmond tenant herself, who’s determined to make her two-bedroom apartment of 20 years safe for her and her children.

“I’m worried because I have my three youngest children,” Gomez said in Spanish. Her five children have grown up in the apartment. “They have allergies, and one of my sons suffers from asthma because of the damp walls.”

Previously, landlords were allowed to self-certify that their buildings were up-to-code. The onus had largely been on renters like Gomez to drive such improvements by filing complaints with the city. However, a new city ordinance, which takes effect Thursday, alleviates some of that burden by making city inspections routine every three years.

Richmond’s new rule, which garnered unanimous City Council support last month, is just the latest win for housing advocates in the city, which already boasts some of the strongest tenant protections in California, including rent control, eviction protections and an ordinance prohibiting tenant-harassment."

"Rent Freeze and Eviction Moratorium  

In response, amid the one-week anniversary since the devastating wildfires ignited, more than 30 community organizations and advocacy groups called for a county-wide eviction moratorium to physically and economically protect and safeguard renters in the county during and after the fires.  

The Keep LA Housed Coalition, made up of organizations including CHIRLA, Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE), ACT-LA, T.R.U.S.T. South LA, Legacy LA and Latino Equity Alliance, among others, are demanding L.A. County entities such as the L.A. Board of Supervisors, the Los Angeles Superior Court, the L.A. County District Attorney's Office and the L.A. County Sheriff Department to use their respective and expanded powers during a state of emergency to create and institute clear and uniform eviction protections countywide, as well as to prevent spikes in rents and price gouging.

“This is a devastating time for all of Los Angeles. The wildfires have displaced thousands of residents, destroyed homes and caused significant economic losses,” said Nancy Villanueva, lead organizer with the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE Institute), a national organization supporting Indigenous leadership development, policy creation and civic participation and who is part of the Keep LA Housed Coalition. “At the epicenter of this are working-class people who are coming forward in need of urgent assistance as they face a range of challenges. Many people did not only lose their homes; they lost their jobs; they lost their economic security.”

"The Imperial Beach City Council Wednesday proposed a set of new tenant protections in response to a mass eviction at the Hawaiian Gardens apartment complex in October.

The ordinance, introduced during the Council’s regular meeting, would restrict substantial remodel evictions — a specific type of eviction that many tenants and their advocates say is enabling the displacement of longtime residents. It would also require landlords to report eviction data to the city.

The ordinance would not ban substantial remodel evictions outright. It also does not include an emergency halt on any ongoing eviction cases, something many tenants had hoped for.

That means dozens of renters at the 64-unit Hawaiian Gardens building are still facing eviction. Many have already been forced to move out and seek housing elsewhere."

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- In honor of International Migrants Day, local organizations and hundreds of people rallied in downtown Los Angeles in an act of solidarity with immigrants, who fear President-elect Donald Trump's promised plans for mass deportation.

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights led attendees for a 1.5-mile march, rallying at Placita Olvera, 125 Paseo de la Plaza. Participants headed toward the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Center, located at E. Aliso St. and N. Alameda St., culminating with a program.

The National Day Laborer Organizing Network will gather participants at L.A. City Hall at 4 p.m., followed by a march toward the ICE detention center at 5 p.m. Mexican and Latin American bands, Los Jornaleros del Norte, Los Cadetes de Linares and La Sonora Dinamita, will perform, starting at 6 p.m.

Labor, faith and social justice organizations such as SEIU 721, SEIU USWW, SEIU 2015, UTLA, CARCEN, Korean Resource Center, ACCE, Community Coalition, and many others joined CHIRLA for the march.

Pastor Stephen "Cue" Jn-Marie of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, and Suyapa Maldonado of ACCE served as master of ceremonies.